Controversially suppressed by the Morrison government ahead of the federal election, the latest State of the Environment report will finally be made public on Tuesday.

The five-yearly report card from a team of leading independent scientists paints a grim picture of a natural environment under siege from climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, mining and pollution.

It suggests Indigenous knowledge and practices hold the key to healing the environment, as it warns that climate change is leading to the "incremental destruction" of culturally significant sites.

"The State of the Environment Report is a shocking document," Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said.

"It tells a story of crisis and decline in Australia's environment ... and of a decade of government inaction and willful ignorance."

Former environment minister Sussan Ley was handed the report last December, but chose not to release it before the federal election in a decision which infuriated environmental advocates and frustrated some of its authors.

The former minister was required to table the report within 15 parliamentary sittings of receiving it, meaning she was entitled to keep it under wraps as the lower house only sat for 10 days before Scott Morrison called the election.

Ms Plibersek has been telling the public to brace for a shocking set of findings after being briefed on the report following Labor's election win.

A 274-overview of the report, which Ms Plibersek will release ahead of an address to the National Press Club on Tuesday, validates her warnings.

The findings could also explain why the Coalition wanted to keep the report secret before the May 21 election, where it ultimately lost a swag of seats to climate-focused independents, Labor and the Greens.

The report found progress on emissions reduction had "stalled" after the Coalition came to power in 2013, casting doubt over whether it would be able reach the 26-28 per cent pollution target for 2030 which it frequently claimed it would "meet and beat".

The links between climate change and environmental decline were laid bare in the report, which confirmed the past decade as the hottest on record.

Land temperatures have risen 1.4 degrees since the early 20^th Century, while ocean temperatures were up 1.1 degrees, the report said.

Drought, more frequent and fierce bushfires and a warming of the ocean to a point at which parts of the Great Barrier Reef had reached a "tipping point" were just some of the consequences of greenhouse gas emission-fuelled climate change.

READ MORE:

The report confirms Australia has lost more mammals than any other continent and has one of the fastest rates of species decline in the OECD.

There has been an 8 per cent jump in the number of species either listed as threatened, or which have had their rating upgraded since the 2016 study.

The number is expected to grow as the fallout continues to the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, a crisis which saw an estimated 1 to 3 billion animals killed or displaced.

While more than 100 species are listed as extinct, the report warns the number is likely to be "significantly higher" because of flaws in surveying and describing them.

In a message to all governments, the report said there had been an "insufficient overall investment and a lack of coordination" in tackling the combination of pressures which are driving Australia's environmental decline.

"Australia's strategies and investment in biodiversity conservation do not match the scale of the challenge, and the state and trend of Australia's ecosystems and species continue to decline," the report said.

Ahead of her National Press Club speech, Ms Plibersek signaled the Labor government would act on the report's findings.

"I won't be putting my head in the sand - under Labor, the environment is back on the priority list," she said.